The Restoration and Conservation of Library and Archive Materials as an International Task

Bollettino dell'Istituto di Patologia del Libro 29 (1970) 85-97.

In this context see the informative report by Luigi Crocetti and Anthony Cains: Un'esperienza di cooperazione (Bollettino 29 [1970] 27-56). It deals with the methods and results of that memorable and effective co-operation in which many experienced book binders and restorators from all over the world joined in Florence after the flood of 1966.

See Dietze, Joachim: Konservierung und Restaurierung von Büchern in den sozialistischen Ländern. Ein Symposiums-Bericht. - Zentralbl.f.Bibliothekswesen 86 (1972) 164-166. See also Verona, Eva: Über die Restaurierung von Zeitungsbeständen in der National- und Universitätsbibliothek in Zagreb. - ZfB 77 (1963) 433-443. See Lola Hasznos for more detailed information: Reinigung, Desinfektion und Entsäurerung als kombinierter Arbeitsprozeß bei der Massenrestaurierung. In: Massenrestaurierung. Protokoll einer Arbeitstagung im Staatsarchiv Bückeburg (1970). Ed. by Brigitte Poschmann, pp. 24-40. - Veröffentlichungen der Niedersächsischen Archiwerwaltung. Heft 30. Also L.A. Beljakova und O.V. Kozulina: Book preservation in USSR libraries. - Unesco Bulletin Libraries. 15 (1961) 198-202.

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München: Buchrestaurierung. Methoden und Ergebnisse. Ausstellungskatalog 12. München 1971.

See Werner Jütte : Restaurierung und Konservierung an deutschen Bibliotheken. - Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbindereien 11 (1971) 6-8-611. Jütte presents a survey of restoration work done in the Fed. Rep. Germany. He mentions sixteen workshops in libraries, of which eight, however, are oneman operations. Beside the Institute of the Bavarian State Library the most important are the one in Wolfenbüttel (Herzog August Bibliothek), in Berlin (Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz) and Hamburg (Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek), all of them disposed to assume regional tasks. - See also Helmut Bansa : Gedanken zum Berufsbild und zur Ausbildung des Restaurators. - Bibliotheksforum Bayern I (1973) 91-107.

Barrow, W.J. : Permanence and durability of the book. Richmond, Va. 5 vols. Vol. 1: Two years research programme, 1963; vol. 2: Test data of naturally aged paper, 1964; vol. 3: Spray deacidification, 1964; vol. 4: Polyvinyl acetate (PVA) adhesives for use in library bookbindings, 1965; vol. 5: Strength and other characteristics of books papers, 1800-1899, 1967.

See Poole, Frazer G. : The research library and book conservation. - La cooperazione internazionale per la conservazione del libro. Bollettino dell Istituto di Patologia del Libro 29 (1970). There is a survey of the organization, structure, and work flow of the whole Preservation Office of the Library of Congress. The four other divisions are the Binding Office, the Restoration Office, the Preservation Microfilming Office and the Collections Maintenance Office.

Library and archives Conservation. The Boston Athenaeum's 1971 Seminar on the Application of Chemical and Physical Methods to the Conservation of Library and Archival Materials. Edited by George Martin Cunha and Norman Paul Tucker. The Library of the Boston Athenaeum. Boston, Mass., 1972.

Poole, Frazer G. : The research library and book conservation. - La cooperazione internazionale per la conservazione del libro. Bollettino dell'Istituto di Patologia del Libro 29 (1970). See also his: Proposed activities and organization of a working group of experts on the preservation of books and documents. 1973. (Typed manuscript for the IFLA Program Developing Group). The endangered books go to a special location (Brittle books collection), where it is determined whether new books have to be purchased or whether they will be filmed or restored.

Kathpalia , Yash Pal: Conservation and restoration of archive materials: Unesco Paris 1973 (Documentation, libraries and archives: studies and research 3). The author, a chemist and scientific-technical director of the restoration division of the Indian National Archive in New Delhi, supports his discussion with his professional experiences collected over 20 years not only in India but also in Europe and the USA. He considers carefully those problems that are special to unfavorable climatic conditions of various geographical regions.

The administration of this working group, which was initiated and co-founded by the author of this article, was taken over in 1973 by Helmut Bansa, Director of the Institut für Buch- und Handschriftenrestaurierung of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich. The first task of this group is to prepare a list of restoration workshops now operating in libraries. Other tasks will include the elaboration of generally acceptable standards and guidelines for the conservation and restoration of books. This is a central concern and part of other professional duties of librarians to be approached within the framework of a long time plan for the care of books. In this approach one has to consider those issues and particular conditions that differentiate the needs prevailing in libraries from those in archives.